Students from All Saints School and Lake Catholic High School stand on Bellflower Road on Wednesday as the funeral procession for Rose Wilson leaves St. John Vianney Church in Mentor.

Hundreds of mourners gathered at St. John Vianney church in Mentor on Wednesday morning to remember a longtime school principal.

Rosemary J. Wilson, 61, who died Sunday after a battle with cancer, had lived in Lake County for 28 years. She also worked at All Saints of St. John Vianney School in Wickliffe for more than 33 years, first as a teacher and then principal for the last 17 years.

Her funeral mass began at 10 a.m. as the sign outside of the church read: "Welcome home Rose Wilson. You taught my love to my children. Now rest in my light, my healing peace."

As the casket was carried from the church following the mass, bagpipes sounded through the quiet morning celebrating Wilson's Irish heritage.

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Hundreds of students and other supporters, both young and old, lined Bellflower Road as Wilson began her final journey to All Souls Cemetery in Chardon Township.

Attendees placed one hand over their hearts and held out the other as the funeral procession drove by.

Rev. Tom Johns, pastor of St. John Vianney parish, said Wilson loved her job.

"I worked closely with her the past 17 years and she always put the kids first," he said. "She was good with parents and with teachers, too."

She was so good, in fact, that hundreds of children and families travelled to her Mentor home a few weeks ago to offer support.

On Nov. 1, the Feast of All Saints, the community came to her home and prayed the rosary on her front lawn, Johns said. Even though she was weak, when Wilson learned so many people had come to her home she gathered the strength and invited them all in to her home, he said.

More than 200 children walked through Wilson's home and greeted her that night. Johns said the experience really lifted Wilson's spirit over the coming days.

"It made her day," Johns said. "It was really something to see them all there praying for her."

Wilson, born in Cleveland in 1951, graduated from Regina High School in 1970 and John Carroll University in 1974.

Before she started teaching at All Saints, she began her career as a first-grade teacher at St. Columbkille School.

In addition to flowers, Wilson's family suggest any donations be made to the Rose Wilson Scholarship Fund at All Saints, located at 28702 Euclid Ave. in Wickliffe.